Chapter 4
Sprx and Nova took their opportunity when Mandarin and Antauri went out on patrol, to go to Gibson. They both stopped outside Gibson's lab and took a deep breath. "You ready?" Sprx asked as he turned to Nova. He had a sympathetic look on his face, which made Nova smile. She placed her hand on his shoulder and nodded. Sprx pushed the intercom button next to the door. "Hey, Gibson! You got a minute?" The doors slid open to reveal both Gibson and Otto working on some sort of mechanical device. They looked up when Sprx and Nova entered the room.
"What can I do for you two" Gibson asked as he removed his welding mask. Sprx, feeling rather brave, stepped forward to say what he had wanted to say for so long.
"Since the two of you are here, we might as well tell you both together." Sprx paused, realizing it wasn't as easy as he thought it would be. He tried to figure out how to break the news to their chief mechanic and science officer. Luckily, he wasn't alone. Nova stepped up next to Sprx and laced her fingers with his.
"You see, Sprx and I have… kind of… been seeing each other, in secret, for about a year now." She leaned on Sprx's shoulder to show how close they are. "And, despite my commitment to Mandarin, I love Sprx more than life itself." By the time she said this, she and Sprx were staring lovingly into each other's eyes. Sprx leaned over and captured Nova in a quick kiss.
"Yup, and I'm absolutely crazy about Nova, she's the love of my life."
Gibson and Otto just stood there stared in shock and bewilderment at the couple who had just confessed their love affair. Otto, not liking silence, decided to break it. "Yahoo! It's about time you two let the cat out of the bag! You guys have been sneaking around for like, forever!"
Now it was Sprx and Nova's turn to be shocked. "You knew?" Sprx asked.
"Well, I kinda figured, I mean Sprx, your room is right next to mine and, well, I kept seeing Nova sneak into your room every once in a while. And it wasn't usually until several hours later until you left. So I kinda figured there was something going on. Plus, the walls aren't exactly soundproof, and a lot of the time I could hear, well, you know." Sprx and Nova both blushed, although, already being red, it was less noticeable on Sprx. "AND, please don't tell Mandarin this Nova, but you and Sprx is a WAAAAAY better pairing than you and Mandarin."
Nova let out a little giggle and walked up to Otto to give him a peck on the cheek. Otto's cheeks turned a bit pinkish. Sprx would have been slightly jealous of seeing his girlfriend kissing another guy if it weren't for the fact that Otto was keeping a huge secret for him, and he had just complimented him. "Hey, thanks Otto," he said.
"I suppose a 'congratulations' are in order," Gibson said, "So congratulations! While I do not share his enthusiasm, I agree with Otto that you two are good couple. Ugh, I can't believe I just said that," he muttered under his breath.
"Awww, thanks Gibby… I mean Gibson," Sprx quickly corrected himself, "and thanks Otto, for keeping our relationship a secret, especially from Mandarin." Sprx shuddered as that name escaped his lips.
"No problem Sprx! I know you would do the same for me, that is… if I had a relationship… one that needed to be a secret… I mean if there was another girl robot monkey… and…"
"Otto, we get it, thanks," Nova interrupted. "But that's not all. We actually have another secret we need kept…" She looked nervously at Sprx, who took over the conversation for her.
"The thing is, and Otto apparently already knows this, but we've been… busy, and… I got Nova pregnant!"
Otto almost rocketed to the ceiling. "A baby, a baby! You're gonna have a baby!" He chanted as he pranced around the lab waving his arms
.
"Otto, do try to keep it down. Did Sprx and Nova not just say that they wanted this kept secret? Besides, you're going to damage all our audio receptors with your infernal mantra!" Gibson shouted as he covered his robotic "ears."
"Oops, sorry," Otto immediately quieted down.
"Another congratulations to the both of you," Gibson said, "but I hope you will allow me to run the standard battery of prenatal examinations on you Nova, to make sure you and the baby are healthy."
Nova looked a bit nervous over what she was sure were simple medical tests, but Gibson always had a way of making things sound more unpleasant than they usually were. "Actually, Gibson, that's why we're here, do you mind?" Nova asked him.
"Not at all, I'd be happy to make sure you and your child are healthy!"
"I'm gonna go back to my workshop to work on something, good luck guys! And don't worry, I'll keep everything…" he made a zipping motion with his fingers over his mouth.
Once Otto had gone, Gibson proceeded to examine Nova, after which, he proudly announced that "the fetus is developing at a normal rate and I do not detect any abnormalities."
"Thanks Brainstrain, for everything, really" Sprx said as he rested his hand on Gibson's shoulder. It was a rare moment when the two brothers got along or saw eye-to-eye on anything, but even they were able to put aside their differences in matters such as this.
"You are both very welcome," Gibson said with an awed smile, "and congratulations again. Also, I want you to come back and see me for another check-up this time next week, and then once every other week; if that works for you."
"That's perfect, since Mandarin is always on patrol at this time. Thank you Gibson!" Nova gave the scientist a peck on the cheek, "this really means a lot to the both of us." She and Sprx departed his lab, hand-in-hand.
"Well, that went better than I expected," said Sprx as soon as Gibson's doors closed behind them.
"Yeah it did," Nova replied as she wrapped her arms around Sprx's neck and kissed him. He was in the middle of groping Nova's rear-end and having a tongue war with her when a thought occurred to him.
"Hold that thought, Babe, I gotta ask Gibby one more thing." Sprx pecked Nova on the lips before dashing back to Gibson's lab. When he returned he bore one of the biggest smiles Nova had ever seen.
"What's with you?" Nova asked.
"You'll see, when we get up to my room," Sprx replied seductively as he grabbed Nova's hand and rushed her to his room where he passionately showed her just how much he loved her.